Welcome Back
by Usagi Youkai
Summary: JetSokka. Set after Lake Laogai. Sokka morns Jet's absence, at least while he thinks Jet is gone.


Alright, I have an excuse. Really! I do! ... Okay, maybe I really don't. But lovely 'Lalala' with long reviews asked me to do some Jet/Sokka. Hell, why not. The past few episodes have turned him into a good guy and sadly I can't hate him as much as I once did. ... _-Shifty eyes-_ He'd still rape Sokka when he was crazy in the woods though, but in Ba Sing Se, he's different.

My first _pure_ Jet/Sokka. Rejoice!

* * *

Sokka lay in the grass, staring sadly at the passing clouds. It seemed forever ago that he's been here, when it had really only been a few days ago. The stars shined brightly and the night sky was clear. It shouldn't have been such a nice crisp spring night. Not with what happened.

He was at Lake Laogai, but he was tired of staring at the water. The base of the Dai Li was gone, and as much as he, Toph, Katara, and Aang knew; Jet and the gang were gone as well. Jet had been injured badly and Smeller Bee and Long Shot had stayed behind. And what Toph had said to him still sent a shutter up his spine. Jet lied that he was going to be ok, and now his fears seemed confirmed. Jet was dead.

Sokka sat up, folding his legs and looking out to the water again, tears stinging in his eyes once more. He rubbed them away furiously. No, he'd spent earlier crying, he wasn't going to do it again. He chastised himself for dwelling over this. Katara didn't even cry so long over Jet, of course, their local lie detector hadn't told her what Jet had said. He didn't even really know why he was so sad. But maybe Jet had really grown on him. Jet had finally started to come around, he was a changed person. Why did he have to go like that? It wasn't fair...

This time tears fell down his face freely, blue eyes lowering to the ground. He missed the rebel teen badly. It wasn't fair that he was gone when they had just met up again. It wasn't right that he had to die so heroically. Sokka briefly wondered if he should have taken Katara's advice and kissed Jet when he'd had the chance. Even though Katara had only suggested as retaliation to his comment, he didn't take it, and now he never could.

Sokka's attention was finally drawn by a shuffle of grass. He was startled by the sound and he quickly got to his feet, turning, seeing a lone figure a few yards away. At first he thought it was one of the Dai Li, but looking harder at the silhouette in the dark, the person wasn't wearing a uniform. The person even looked injured because he was holding onto a stick to steady himself. Sokka rubbed his blurry, tear filled eyes, noticing shaggy hair and the Earth Kingdom clothes. His heart sped up as his vision cleared, seeing the very person he'd been dwelling over for the past few hours. Jet…

Jet was turned towards Sokka, taking slow steps towards him, seeing Sokka had finally noticed him. His head was bandaged up with white cloth but other than the walking stick, he looked like he did before Lake Laogai. He smiled that familiar smirk and Sokka's eyes filled with tears again, his mind disbelieving his eyes.

"Hey." Jet said and that made Sokka snap. He didn't care if it was some figment of his morning mind, he ran forward and nearly tackled Jet, his arms going around Jet's waist, hugging him tight. Jet was not expecting the impact and he was knocked over, landing hard on his butt, landing with a surprised grunt. "Easy." He managed to get out before Sokka realized what he'd done and sat back, kneeling in front of the rogue teen.

"Sorry," he apologized with a hiccup, scolding himself for knocking over Jet.

"Its ok," Jet said heavily, Sokka had knocked the wind out of him, but he parted his shirt, revealing his chest was wrapped in bandages, the same his head. He'd been hit in the chest by the rock after all, "but I'm still healing." Sokka eyes filled with more tears and he slung his arms around Jet's neck, hugging him, though not as tightly.

"You're alive…" Sokka sobbed and Jet smiled lightly, laying a hand on Sokka's back, rubbing his back to try to calm the other down.

"Of course; you didn't really expect some stuffed up earth bender to get the best of me, did you?" Sokka just cried harder, burying his face into Jet's shoulder. Jet sighed and wrapped his arms around the Water Tribe teen, holding his close.

"Don't scare me like that, damn it." Sokka managed to get out and Jet smiled more.

"You were worried?" Jet asked and Sokka's tears slowed, pulling back, a blush deepening his already red face.

"Y-yes," Sokka admitted quietly, then spoke even more sincerely, "I thought you were gone..." Jet's smile fell, seeing how truly worried Sokka had been. He held Sokka closer, pulling the darker skinned teen into his lap, so Sokka straddled his waist. Sokka's face turned a deeper red, but he didn't move away as Jet held him close.

"Long Shot and Smeller Bee got me out," Jet explained, "I've been healing since then and I'd heard that the Dai Li's base was gone... I wanted to make sure. I wasn't expecting you to be here." Sokka didn't say anything, but closed his eyes, inscribing the feeling of Jet holding him into his mind. He didn't know if he would ever held like this again. He didn't know if he'd ever get another chance to show just how much he cared about the Earth Kingdom teen.

Sokka tilted his head and his lips barely brushed Jet's, still unsure if he should cross that boundary, eyes still shut tight. There wasn't a respond for a brief second, but then their lips were pressed together by the injured teen, drawing out a soft kiss from both of them. Jet's arms adjusted and he slowly deepened the kiss, getting a pleasant sound from Sokka before they both drew back. Sokka opened his eyes, blinking, a little stunned that Jet had actually gone along with it. Jet didn't look abashed at all, smiling confidently.

"That's what you were going to do, right?" he asked and Sokka blushed, nodding, "What for?" Sokka paused. He didn't want to say he cared so much just yet, it was too soon.

"I just..." Sokka stumbled for an answer briefly before finding one, "I wanted to say... welcome back." Jet smiled in response, touched by the words, but before he could say anything back, they were interrupted.

"Jet!" They both looked up the hill, where Smeller Bee and Long Shot were at the top, the girl with her arms crossed and Long Shot stood quietly by her. Sokka grimaced. He wasn't sure how Jet's gang was going to react to him kissing their leader, "Jet! Are you done yet! There are no more Dai Li and you should be resting!" Jet nudged Sokka off of him and Sokka stood up, helping Jet up by supporting his arm. The two Freedom Fighters slid halfway down the hill and by that time, Jet had his walking stick back, though Sokka was still his main support, holding him by his elbow. Smeller Bee landed in front of Jet, her hands on her hips, looking disapprovingly at Sokka. It was understandable since Jet was injured pretty bad still, she seemed like a protective sister more than ever, "What's he doing here?"

"He's fine," Jet said and Smeller Bee didn't push the subject, "And yeah, I'm done."

"Then lets get back," Smeller Bee said, ready to return up the hill, "There's no point in going back with the streets crawling with guards, but this place gives me the creeps."

"Alright." Jet said and Smeller Bee started back up the hill. Sokka saw Jet and Long Shot exchange glances, then Long Shot glanced at Sokka and Sokka felt a cold shiver up his spine, feeling as if the archer's stare pierced him. He gave a small nod to Jet, then started to climb the hill with Smeller Bee. Sokka looked at Jet.

"What was that about?" he asked and Jet shrugged.

"He said you're alright." Jet replied, following his companions up the hill, Sokka following, refusing to let Jet go just yet.

"Oh." Sokka said, Long Shot made him feel exposed in a very uncomfortable way.

"He also said I should have added tongue." Jet murmured and Sokka's face lit up like a torch.

"What?!" Sokka exclaimed and Jet just laughed.

"He's only joking." Jet assured him and Sokka frowned, wondering if Long Shot had really said that through their strange visual communication. He didn't worry about it for long though, because Jet pulled him closer, pausing to kiss Sokka lightly again. Sokka smiled lightly into the kiss. He was glad he didn't miss the second chance.

* * *

Ta-da! A pure Jet/Sokka fic, I hope someone likes it. I think it came out smoothly, but it doesn't hold the same spark as Zuko/Sokka for me. If anyone wants to branch something off of this, go ahead, I really couldn't care less. But a review to tell me what you think would be nice. Did you like it? Is it too off because its not my usual pairings? Was it like going through the Twilight Zone for you as it was for me? -Swirly spiny eyes- Oh the humanity...

Its still hotness though. Send mangos. :D I like mangos


End file.
